Allen Iverson Ran Through Over 140 Million Bucks in His Career… shocked? I’m not.
One of Jay-Z’s iconic records was, “When The Money Goes Will The Honey’s Stay?” and it’s clear the former basketball superstar’s fall from NBA grace has answered that question for us all with a resounding ‘NO’.
[FLASHBACK: WATCH ESPN’s 30 for 30 “BROKE” Documentary + Former Falcon Bob Whitfield Shares Input… (VIDEO)]
Iverson?s ex-wife Tawanna went to court last month, asking a judge to force him to pay $1,272,000 into a trust fund for child support. She wants the money in a lump sum because she was sick of chasing him every month.
The contentions sports player raked in over $140 million during his career, but now claims he’s a pathetic shadow of the man he once was (at least financially), and filed an answer demanding that his ex-wife drop her unrealistic child support demands.
Details below…
Iverson claims the only steady source of income he has is his Reebok deal and while it’s unclear exactly how much he pulls in from the shoe brand, he claims it’s nowhere near enough to meet his ex-wife’s demands.
Allen also says he resents his Tawanna’s claims that he’s a deadbeat dad, boasting that he has paid over half-a-million in support this year alone. ?The judge has yet to rule on the current issues.
Some of you may be aware that Iverson has a LIFETIME deal with Reebok [cue violins for Ricky Rozay UOENO]. ?”Lifetime”… meaning Iverson reportedly receives $62k per month from the shoe brand.
And before his pity party begins, lets review career highs:
During his 15 seasons in the NBA, Allen Iverson was an 11 time All Star, league MVP, rookie of the year and a four time NBA scoring champion.
In 2008, ESPN ranked him as the fifth best NBA player of all time behind George Gervin, Jerry West, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan (in that order). As an NBA player, Allen Iverson made $154.5 million in salary alone. His peak earning season was 2008-2009, when he was paid $20.8 million by the Detroit Pistons. His largest career contracts include a $71 million six-year deal in 1999 and a $77 million four-year deal in 2003. Now thats a LOT OF DOUGH!!!
In a December 2012 court disclosure, Iverson told a judge that his monthly income was $62,500 but his expenses were $360,000!
Of that $360k, $125k went to paying back various creditors and another a large chunk goes to mortgages. Iverson-owned homes in Denver and Atlanta were eventually lost to foreclosure and a Georgia judge ordered him to repay nearly $900,000 to a local jeweler.[Source]
This is where things get a bit tricky. While Iverson certainly raked in a ton of dough, the divorce proceedings taught us that he was essentially millions in debt and losing more than $200,000 every month.
[FLASHBACK: Iverson’s Wife Explains Decision to Divorce… ]
During the divorce, Iverson’s ex also spilled the tea in court about his continuing struggle with alcohol, his tricking off thousands of dollars in expensive gifts for his jumpoffs, and his inability to maintain a job. But despite all the bad news, we also learned that Iverson is actually still a very rich man with millions in the bank…. but he can’t touch any of it until 2030!
It turns out that back at the peak of his playing days, Iverson signed a lucrative endorsement contract with shoe company Reebok. $30 million from the contract was set aside as a rainy day trust fund that Allen will inherit when he turns 55.
Unfortunately, even though he desperately needs the money now, he wont get a dime for 17 more years. And to make matters worse, when he does finally inherit the trust it will be $15 million less than he originally planned. (The existence of this trust fund came to light after it was revealed in divorce disclosures that his ex-wife Tawanna was awarded 50% of the rainy day fund, to be delivered at the same future date).
In the meantime, Allen is in a deep hole that’s getting deeper every month. His potential for earning more income is quickly diminishing and he has a ways to go before he will ever be rich again.
Iverson’s financial plight could be an important lesson to us all about the importance of financial planning and while he certainly contributed more than his fair share to his ex-wife & kids, does he owe them his rainy day fund as well?
or is Iverson a prime example of the “BROKE” athlete who mismanaged his millions?